Roman Mythology

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Transcript of Roman Mythology

Roman MythologyBy Reese :)Hey, you! Over there! Hi!I'm here to tell you about Roman mythology! And boy, there's a lot. You know SOME stuff about mythology right? No? I'm willing to put money on that you've heard of some of these weird creatures called Roman Gods we are going to be talking about.

Juno? Vulcan? Minerva? No? I get it. What about Jupiter, Neptune,and Pluto?

"What?" I hear you say. "Those are planets, not Gods!" Oh my dears, those foolish planets were named after the gods! Copycat astronomers. Hmph. Anyway, let's start at the beginning. Of Rome that is. Not of time. That would take too long. Once upon a time... WAIT.. alright, Iknow I'm starting like a child's fairy tale,but DON'T expect it to end like one. OK, back tothe story.

Once upon a time there was an evil king named Amulius. He banished his brother from the kingdom and killed his son's. He forbid his brother's daughter to get married or have children. Her name was Rhea. Well, Rhea had a rebellious streak and decided to have children anyway. She gave birth to two twin sons, Romulus and Remus, and claimed their daddy was Mars, Roman god of war. (Whether that was true or not, only a few people know and they are dead. #winkwink) Soooo, as you can imagine, the evil king did NOT want sons of gods hanging around to capture the throne so he loked up Rhea and put the twins in a wicker basket to die and put them in a river. As you can probably tell, he was quite a ray of sunshine. Anyway, a wolf named Lupa who trains Roman heroes found them and raised them until a farmer helped them. When they were old enough, they traveled back to their home town and murdered Amulius.

Seems like a happy ending, right? Rome's legends never are I'm afraid. We aren't done with this story yet.

After the twins killed Amulius, they decided to form a city. However, they had teeny bit (and by that I mean a lot a bit) different ideas on this civilization's governing.Romulus and Remus fought to the death and Romulus won. He named this new place Rome. And on that happy note, we move on to our next topic....GODS!!!!

Gods were heavily worshiped. They were examples of what Romans should be. Everyone was expected to fear and respect them. They were said to interact with humans, and even have children with mortals they favored. Some gods were hostile, mean, helpful, and loving. Let's meet some of them!Jupiter!

Jupiter was King of the Gods. He was lord of the sky. Legend has it that Jupiter killed his father Saturn and his three children, Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter split up the world: the sea, the air, and the underworld. Jupiter became the ultimate king. Juno!Juno was the Queen of the Gods. She was married to Jupiter. She was the goddess of marriage and family. She gave birth to many of the other Olympians, including Vulcan, who she thought was so ugly she threw off a mountain. Juno was known to be quite a bother to heroes.

Neptune!Neptune was the god of the sea. He was highly feared and very moody. It was commonly known that if you didn't respect him, bad things would happen to you. Pluto!Pluto was the lord of the dead and the god of riches. He lived in the Underworld full time. Other Gods:

Apollo- God of the SunDiana- Goddess of the Moon and the HuntMars- God of WarVenus- Goddess of Love and BeautyCupid- God of LoveMercury- Messenger of the Gods, HermesBacchus- God of Wine, DionysusVulcan- God of Fire and BlacksmithsPompona- Goddess of PlentyMinerva- Goddess of Crafts Bellona- Goddess of War

That is only a few of VERY many gods. If you know about Greek mythology, these gods sound very similar, right? But there was one major difference. Athena, Greek Goddess of wisdom, architecture, crafts, and battle/war, and patron god of Athens, the Greece's most successful city, ehmm, changed a bit you might say. When the Romans began there city, they made Athena Minerva and took away all of her military importance. The Greeks, who worshiped Athena as one of there most important gods, took this as an insult and never forgave Rome. Not that the Romans had much.... But here's a little Roman humor for you :)They were all about conquering and military power.Ha. Ha. Ha The Romans believed that the Gods were constantly watching them. They thought that if you were hated by the Gods, you were dead. Romans made sacrifices to them. They were a huge part of everyday life. FestivalsInHonorofGods :)At many different points in the Roman year, there were feasts, festivals, and holy days reserved to honor their gods and goddesses.

Agonalia was a holiday in January that honored the god of doorways and beginnings. Bet you'd never thought you would honor a god of doors!

Armilustrium was a sacred day to Mars, marking the end of the military campaigns.

Fortuna Virilias was on April 1st. It was a day that was celebrated by women who wished to have better relationships in their lives that was sacred to Fortuna, Goddess of Hope, and Venus, Goddess of Love.

The Kalends were the first day of each month that honored Juno, Queen of the Gods. This is where the word calender came from.

Lupercalica was the ancient Roman's idea of Valentine's day. It was celebrated from February 13-15. It was partially to honor Lupa, the wolf that raised Romulus and Remus, and partially to honor Faunus, the God of the Wild, so that he would bless their crops.

Gods and goddesses always wanted more worshipers and love from mortals. They LOVED attention and sacrifices and could get a bit moody if not respected properly. Neptune was especially known to blow up a few towns or curse a few hundred people if he didn't get his respect. There were hundreds of myths about Romans gods, goddesses, and their interaction with the mortal world. To tell you every one would take..well, an awful long time.Well my dears, it's been fun telling you about Roman Mythology! I hope we can do it again sometime, but for now, goodbye! ANd now... a video clip about Roman mythologyBibliography: